Monumental Stuff up by Qantas

[Must...Fly!]

What an ordeal. I think it could have been handled better on both sides.

However, what I will say is that just because almost everyone on this forum knows to look out for ticketing, ticket numbers, etc, does not mean that everyone does. The members of this site (and other related ones) are an incredibly small subset of the travelling population. The number of people I used to come across a few years ago when I was ground crew who would use the likes of flight centre, ebookers, etc etc for even the simplest of journeys astounded me - I always used to wonder how travel agents were still in business, but once you're exposed to the actual people who fly that are not like-minded, it's mind boggling.

Heck, even the other month a friend was taking a simple return flight and booked it via Flight Centre, with booking fee on top! It's really not difficult to do it on your own, but people either can't or won't bother. Fair enough, there's a market there for it.

Many people would have direct sweet CCs dropping 1-2,000 points in their account every month and only ever bother to log in to book an economy award from Melbourne to Brisbane, end of story. You just trust that it works, if you're that kind of person. This is an extreme example of everything going wrong, due to the locations etc.

Could the OP have done more to ensure their ticket was valid? Yes. But Qantas should have done what it was supposed to do in the first place - and that applies in every scenario, not just here.

 

[RoMambai]

I had a similar experience to the OP in Mexico City several years back when at the airport I too realised there was no e-ticket or points deducted from my account and therefore no seat to LAX (it was the final leg of a whirlwind tour of Central America and I neglected to notice).

Rather than sheet the blame to Qantas I chalked it up as a lesson learnt and now slavishly run the ruler over every detail of a flight redemption before I depart.

The main thing for me was I got home in the end, I got through a stressful situation and I've learnt from the experience. It seems that the OP has too.

Life is a joyride.

 

[dajop]

Yes the OP stuffed up and yes, Qantas also stuffed up. Yet OP has to bear the full responsibility for the stuff up? Shared failure should mean shared responsibility. But alas this is no more the case. As you have seen all Qantas seems to hand out these days is one fingered salutes.

I can full understand why receiving a "booking confirmation" to the average traveller (i.e not frequent flyer nuts), is taken as "good to go", and most would not understand the difference between a confirmed booking and ticketed booking.

I wouldn't have focussed on the inconvenience on the ground and bad backs etc (which made your experience worse, but at the end of the day this is such a distraction and looks like you put it there just to elicit some sympathy for something that perhaps you might not deserve). Would have just concentrated on the failure of this booking to be ticketed correctly, and not being aware of this until departing - this is not the first case of an award booking to be ticketed incorrectly either, but many do pick this up before departure.

 

[mannej]

OP, out of interest, was the e-mail correspondence to QF as lengthy as the first post?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The confusing part for the OP no doubt was a message about the schedule change, for a booking which wasn’t ticketed. That’s unfortunate, but is a good reminder to us all that just because you might be able to book seats, book the cook, or book a chauffeur, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are ‘good to go’. A ticket number is important.

Question for the OP... were there other flights somewhere closer, for example to the USA that would have been cheaper than $2200?

 

[dajop]

Question for the OP... were there other flights somewhere closer, for example to the USA that would have been cheaper than $2200?

Restrictions on booking via US. Canada or parts of Latin America could be possibilities, but airlines may not let traveller board unless proof of onward travel.

 

[Jack_OC]

However, what I will say is that just because almost everyone on this forum knows to look out for ticketing, ticket numbers, etc, does not mean that everyone does.

I totally agree with that. However, as I added in an edit to my previous post, as far as I can tell, QF doesn't send any kind of confirmation until award flights are ticketed - i.e. they do not even send an email with an itinerary or PNR until the flight is ticketed. That's based on my experience anyway. Perhaps that is not always what happens, but it would be interesting to know.

I can full understand why receiving a "booking confirmation" to the average traveller (i.e not frequent flyer nuts), is taken as "good to go", and most would not understand the difference between a confirmed booking and ticketed booking.

Yes, me too, but as above I'm not sure if any booking confirmation was sent. The OP didn't mention receiving any such confirmation - perhaps he just omitted to mention it, but as I said, in my experience QF doesn't send any confirmation until the flights are ticketed.

If he received no confirmation from Qantas, then I'm afraid I would find it very hard to understand why he would assume it was all booked and ticketed successfully, so I think this is a key point. Perhaps the OP could clarify.

 

[Lynda2475]

Unfortunately Im not sure the OP will have much success with securing compensation from Qantas, given no e-ticket was issued and no points deducted. I agree possible poor customer servcie, but the rest of the comfort issues are resultant of the limitations of visiting Cuba.

Travelling within Cuba presents some unique challenges, but all my research before visiting said not to plan to rely on credit or ATM cards as there was practically zero chance they would work. Best is to take Canadian Dollars (more tourists from Canada visit Cuba each year than form anywhere else) or Euros, although you can exchange GBPs and Mexican Pesos relatively easily too. Currency exchange is fee free in Cuba with rates set by the government so little risk of scams (unless using black market street vendors).

I had prepaid my flights, tour/transfer, hotel/casa familiares but still made sure I took enough cash to cover meals, activities as well as CAD$1000 emergency fund.

I booked my flight CUN-HAV return directly with Air Cubana on the web, entry was smooth but leaving was an ordeal so I can sympathise with the OP - HAV airport is far from full service, and having a reasonable grasp of Spanish really helps.

** the below is my direct experience in April 2015 - friends who have visited more recently have not indicated to me that Havana airport has improved :

On the non-secure side of the airport there is 1 cafe and 1 souvenir shop so limited food options, the departure tax booth and currency exchange plus a few offices, car rental etc. Although there are pay phones, you can only use them with a Cuban phone card and no shop at the airport sells the cards, so you either need to get a cab into Havana to buy a phone card or pay a local to use their mobile (or borrow their card - again offer money international telephony is expensive for them).

My last night in Havana was at the famous Hotel De Nacional, they have TVs with flight details in the lobby, it showed my 1pm departure as being on time when i left the lobby to get cab at 10:30am. By 11am when I arrived at the airport, my flight was showing a 2 hour delay, by the time i got to the check-in counter it was showing a 6 hour delay. Check in agents had minimal English, but I was given a meal voucher for a dinner down the road. Whilst waiting in line there I met a bunch of Kiwis and another Aussie who were also on my flight, so had some company, and we found a Air Cubana Travel agent in their office who had more English who told us the flight was delayed as the plane was still in the Dominican Republic, but not to be too worried it might be brought forward again.

I was supposed to be meeting a friend at Cancun Airport (she was flying in from San Fan) and share a ride to our resort in Playa Del Carmen - the hotel and transfer booking was in my name and guaranteed on my card. As i had no working mobile and no phone card, i was lucky that the lady at the car rental place let me pay to recharge her prepaid mobile so I could put in a quick call to my friend (whose phones was off) and leave a voicemail telling her to head to hotel as i would be delayed and what to do (this cost me about $20 - but I was grateful for the assistance)

We all contemplated going back into Havana for a while to kill some time, but as we had no way to monitor further changes easily we thought it was safe to stay at the airport. We claimed our free meal (chicken, rice and beans) and walked back into the terminal waited an hour. As there was really no where comfortable to sit, we asked if it was better to go secure side, and were given poor advice that yes it was better.

However, apart from more seats, on the secure side there is 1 shop (that sells imitation pringles and candies), an internet place (4 PCs you can pay to use, no wifi) and a hot food place/bar which only seems to open or have food when someone feels like manning it - only hot chips on offer the day we were there.

Our flight proceeded to be even delayed further but as we had cleared immigration we were stuck in the terminal. On plus side after a 60 min wait I was able to get a 30 min slot on the computer, email the hotel to advise them to admit my friend and advise unknown arrival time for myself.

Our flight eventually departed at 11:45pm (curfew is midnight), so I spent almost 13 hours in the airport; got to Cancun in the wee hours of the morning, had to pay for a new transfer and got to my hotel after 2am local time.

Other flights got cancelled, and those passengers had to be readmitted to Cuba, and come back the next day (the airport closes over night). A good reason why you always need some emergency cash in Cuba to fund a night or to head into town to use the internet. Friends i met on tour, departed the next day their flight delayed 6 hours.

My takeaways for travel to Cuba is to always have more cash than you think you will need (assume you can only use cash), get a local phone card in case you need to make a call at the airport ($5 can give you so much peace of mind) and don't go secure side too early.

Despite a trying day upon departure I had a wonderful time and highly recommend a visit to Cuba. Given flight delays appear to be common (things run on Cuban time, which makes Hawaiian/Fiji time seem super speedy), Id probably travel in/out Mexico again too - only 60 mins to Cancun and technology and ATM cards work there no issues - onward longhaul travel should always be easier from neighbouring countries.

 

[BD1959]

The confusing part for the OP no doubt was a message about the schedule change, for a booking which wasn’t ticketed. That’s unfortunate, but is a good reminder to us all that just because you might be able to book seats, book the cook, or book a chauffeur, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are ‘good to go’. A ticket number is important.

Probably just as confusing as the lack of a 65,000 point deduction from the account or the lack of a US100plus (I'm guessing this is paid in USD) deduction from the credit card. I realize that in a minority of respondents, but I would have been all over this like a rash.

Despite all the kind sharing information of Cuba's ATM system and the wifi capabilities of Havana's parklands, we still don't know whether the OP ever received a PNR or was able to manage their (time-delayed) booking.

Regards,

BD (Brutally Direct)

 

[JohnK]

Sorry to hear about your terrible experience.

I book many flights and I don't have the time to ensure that each has been ticketed properly. That job falls on the airline taking the booking but the airline does everything possible not to accept the responsibility.

A few years back I booked a US Dividend miles award in business for mum to go to Greece. No problems on the way over but a flight was cancelled on the way back and threw her itinerary out. No email received and from memory I was just following up at BKK airport when I was departing to ensure she received wheelchair assistance and that's where I found out issues. She was stuck in FCO with limited English and eventually found someone to help. Yes I should have checked but US Airways were responsible to send email advising flight cancellation but no email was sent.

In January I booked a revenue flight with Qantas for my wife which was a return to BKK. That day or next day I called to add my infant daughter to booking. On the day of travel while I was in SYD checking in for flight to BNE with my daughter I got call from Emirates that daughter was not in booking. This was nearly 2 months after requesting changes and providing credit card details. Not Emirates fault.

The useless staff in SYD T3 said they will help but when I landed in BNE nothing was done. I then had to waste time calling Qantas to add infant daughter again and provide credit card details.

I really struggle to understand this practice of delayed ticketing used by Qantas. If I call to make a booking or changes to a booking they should be processed straight away not left in a queue for someone to process at a later stage. This was not the first time either.

 

[ellen10]

Oh my gosh what an ordeal for the OP. Yes there were mistakes made, but I guess she assumed things were ok with the further correspondence she received from Qantas.

However it is a good message to always be well prepared for all sorts of hiccups whilst travelling.
On a side note, I have many friends who travel and some astound me with their lack of knowledge when it comes to tickets, flights, money etc.

 

[nickcotton]

Hi All,

I'm needing some advice and moral support in dealing with a monumental stuff up by Qantas. It's a long story but I'll keep it as brief as possible (but will be venting a bit as well).

- 18th Sept 2017 :l made a call to Qantas FF Customer Support to make an award booking using QFF points. I already had the itinerary and availability found for me by QFF Flyer Solutions. The call lasted 1hr 15mins and resulted in an award booking in J from HAV - MAD - LIS flying Iberia.

- 24th Sept 2017: l receive an email asking me to provide more information via a link to complete my booking.
I go to the link and provide the required info.

- 4th Jan 2018: l receive an email from Qantas quoting my booking number telling me that there is a 25min time change to the above-mentioned award flight.

- 1st May 2018: I arrive at the Havana airport for my above-mentioned flight to be told that I have no booking. After talking with supervisors etc they offer me a J seat for US$5,200 which was WAAAAY above the ticket price. A Y seat was US$2,400 (more than a normal J ticket). It didn't matter anyway as, after trying everything possible, they couldn't process the payment on my CC.

So begins the nightmare. I spent the next 6 hours with no money (was down to my last 10CUC - I was leaving the country, why would I hang on to currency that is totally useless elsewhere and can't be exchanged outside of Cuba), no food, no water, no Wi-Fi, no phone, no communication with friends and family, language barrier, no where to stay and no-one with enough English to really understand the situation.
I queued 3 times (approx 20 mins each time) to try different cards in the ATM at the airport and got no cash each time (2 were cards with no affiliation with the US - they don't accept US cash or cards in Cuba). Money changers didn't want to know me. Taxi drivers hounded me until they found out I had no money then ignored me. In my dealings with the Iberian/Cuban government airline staff (who were as helpful as they could be seeing as it was no fault of theirs) I had to visit 3 different levels of the airport several times. Not one elevator or escalator in the entire airport was working. The reason I go to great lengths to fly business class in the first place is due to a back injury, spinal fusion and the inability to sit for any length of time without extreme pain and discomfort. Lugging my suitcase up and down the stationary escalators just killed my back.
The whole time it was dawning on me that I was going to be sleeping in the Havana airport hungry and thirsty, knowing that the next day would still bring the same problems : no money, no food, no water, no communication and no flight out.
Cutting it short again, one of the Iberian check-in staff took me to her elderly neighbours house at 2am where I stayed until the next morning. The airline checkin staff then came and got me and took me to her house. Then later took me to a remote park where you could get wifi. I called my sister in Melbourne in the middle of the night and asked if she could book me a flight from there. It took her all night (and she easily spoke to 30 people in Madrid) before she could lock in a flight. But, they couldn't accept payment from an Australian credit card (it didn't stop them putting a hold on her cc for TWO tickets that wasn't removed for 2 weeks but that's another story). At 7am she woke up a travel agent friend in NSW and got her on the case. Long story short she got me a ticket and was able to pay for it 2hrs before the flight (24hrs after my original flight).

I ended up paying $2,250.00 for Y seat. That is more than the price for a J seat on that same flight normally. So, after 24 traumatic hours in Havana airport I paid out a business class price to sit for 9 hours in economy (on the 1st leg of the flight) with FOUR crying babies who managed to set each other off constantly the whole way. I was in agony with my back and didn't get a wink of sleep on the overnight flight. I know Qantas doesn't give a flying rats about any of this and I do apologise for going on and on but this is a major stuff up and I need to vent.

Anyway, I have contacted Qantas several times in the last month via email and got the standard responses. I was overseas until 4 days ago and the 30min wait time any time I tried to call them from o/s was too long so I let it go until I got back. So, today, I finally spoke to them and their side of the story is:

1. When I booked online I neglected to give them important details (my middle name and DOB). I told them I didn't book online but booked on the phone in a 1hr 15min phone call. They said the info should've been taken by the person making the award booking. It wasn't. Not my fault.

2. They said when they realised that they hadn't asked me for the important information they sent me an email asking for it. They did send me an email and I followed the link and updated the info. They say it didn't get up dated on the website. Not my fault. A glitch in their system.

3. They say they sent several emails and made phone calls over the following couple of months requesting the information. I received none of them. I am happy for them to check with my internet server. Not my fault. A glitch in their system.

4. They said that when they hadn't heard from me by the end of October/November (not exactly sure when) 2017 they cancelled my booking. I asked them why they sent me an update to my flight time in January 2018. They said that it was an automated email. Wouldn't you only get an automated email like that if it was connected to a LIVE booking??? A glitch in their system.
PS - Iberia said they had never even received a booking from Qantas in the first place.

5. Qantas Customer Care say that on their end they have done everything possible. (Apart from neglect to tell me that I didn't have a booked flight out of Havana).

6. I have checked since and the points were not deducted from my FF account. I didn't notice at the time of booking as I was travelling and had booked several award flights that day from different accounts and didn't bother keeping up with points etc. I just assumed that if you had booked a flight on the phone and someone told you it was all booked that it was all booked.

7. At the moment they are putting it to someone higher up and there is a possibility that they will provide me with a letter so can claim the cost of the replacement ticket from my travel insurance. What I have to say here will probably stop my post from being posted so I won't say it.

It will take a few days for this discussion to happen and I know already that I'm going to be majorly gob-smacked at the pathetic-ness of their final resolution.

This has gone on longer than I expected so thank you to anyone who has made it down to here.

So, any suggestions, ideas would be greatly appreciated. Has anyone had something similar?

Is going to the ACA an option?

Thanks in advance

Try telling Plane Talking blog on Crikey.com.au Ben Sandilands. I'm sure Qantas reads it because I got a refund after months of complaint over atrocious service.

 

[RichardMEL]

Ouch what a situation to have to be in, specially in a place like Cuba makes it that much harder!

I can see both sides. I think when one gets a "confirmation" it's not always clear that a ticket has not been issued. I know some earlines are very clear with "This is not your ticket..." but by the same token we all know how with QF some tickets can get lost in the Far Queue and sometimes to not jump on it straight away.

Others have pointed out the obvious key points of no points deducted and having no PNR specifically to select seats or verify are give aways that there's an issue, but one can easily also assume that it just hasn't been processed yet.

It will probably be difficult to get much love out of QF on this if they have documented their efforts to contact you etc, some of which you did receive.

A really bad situation all around.

A reminder to all of us to always confirm such things. I always have paper copies of my confirmation/etickets with the number etc for just such cases as an example.

A learning experience for everyone.. I hope you can get some compensation or something after your ordeal... good luck!

 

[RichardMEL]

I really struggle to understand this practice of delayed ticketing used by Qantas. If I call to make a booking or changes to a booking they should be processed straight away not left in a queue for someone to process at a later stage. This was not the first time either.

QF bookings, award or otherwise, only go to the manual (or Far) queue when there's an issue that needs manual intevention. Many many many bookings are made daily that go straight through, including awards on partners (I have experience of this).

Is the system perfect? Hell no.. it's got lots of flaws, but it is an exception that bookings need manual processing. We, as in AFF type members, probably experience this more than the average pax because more often than not we're doing more complex bookings, multiple partners, involving places that may require extra details (like APIS or whatever) and so on.

In no way am I defending QF here - half of the time I've had bookings go to the FQ for stupid reasons, like a CC charge issue, or because I used a voucher (these are almost guaranteed to up your chances of a FQ visit by a factor of 10 ) or whatever. Easily resolved usually, but yes, something to keep track of.

 

[Jack_OC]

I can see both sides. I think when one gets a "confirmation" it's not always clear that a ticket has not been issued. I know some earlines are very clear with "This is not your ticket..." but by the same token we all know how with QF some tickets can get lost in the Far Queue and sometimes to not jump on it straight away.

Richard, you seem to be assuming that a confirmation email was sent even though ticketing had not yet occurred. That was my assumption at first too, but as I mentioned in a couple of previous posts, I then remembered that this is not what QF normally does (in my experience). Also, on re-reading the original post, there is not actually any mention of QF sending a confirmation email.

Is it your experience that QF issues confirmation emails when ticketing has not yet occurred?

 

[sjk]

Try telling Plane Talking blog on Crikey.com.au Ben Sandilands. I'm sure Qantas reads it because I got a refund after months of complaint over atrocious service.

He entered the big priority queue in the sky last year:

Vale Ben Sandilands, renowned aviation journalist and Crikey blogger - Plane Talking

 

[mannej]

Try telling Plane Talking blog on Crikey.com.au Ben Sandilands. I'm sure Qantas reads it because I got a refund after months of complaint over atrocious service.

Ben Sandilands has passed away.

 

[JohnM]

I think one must always be prudent and take personal responsibility to avoid foul-ups. I do not trust/believe/depend on any booking source until I have an E-ticket that I can print, check and re-check.

While I have my bookings on my e-devices, I don't walk out the door without the printed version. Particularly so on an international booking, especially to 'unusual' places.

While it seems unlikely that emails from QF would be detected as spam, did the OP check their junk folder?

 

[JohnK]

QF bookings, award or otherwise, only go to the manual (or Far) queue when there's an issue that needs manual intevention. Many many many bookings are made daily that go straight through, including awards on partners (I have experience of this).

There are times where I've not received the comfirmation email for days and weeks for normal bookings. Some of these are for bookings/changes over the phone.

I'm lucky that I do check closer to travel and if I have an international itinerary I check to see seat requests are still in place and that would alert me to possible issues.

 

[CaptJCool]

That’s for sharing your experience.

Like you, I assume things go right “all the time”. The systems designed for that, right?

The critical error here was the fail in the call centre to ask and log the required details. This ultimately was the cause of the consequential non-booking failure.

That help was sought thru the call centre because the OP asked because they needed support to book, and they got BAD help. The NOTHING TO SEE HERE defence is currently being tested in the Royal Commission. It’s not good enough. It’s just dumb to think. Oh I rang to book an award ticket to not use it. QF ought have made a better effort to sort this out, but will they. They are the alleged experts but it seems this opinion is overrated and they’re as novice and a rookie like the OP.

PS
One thing I learnt about online domestic award bookings when it didn’t go well in November 2017, was they don’t actually ticket them immediately. This meant no mobile checkin. Ended up checking in at the Qantas lounge desk! The OP had to “make a phone call”. Talk about making work out of thin air for the staff.

On the transit, I went and asked about my next award booking and this hadn’t been released for ticketing either. Again another phone call. And more work produced out of thin air. Just like a Woolies self-service checkout, some things just don’t self-service very well.....